Infinite Stratos: Under the Surface
by Legion of the Banished
Summary: 467. There are supposedly that many IS cores in this world. All created by the ingenious Tabane Shinonono. Out of that four hundred and sixty-seven only three hundred and twenty-two are actually used. Due to that, the world has few IS and even fewer personal ones. But that's what the public knows, isn't it? Enter the world hidden under the surface. Enter-The IS Underground.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

**Hello guys, Legion here. This is my first story, all criticisms are allowed, but please go easy. Also forgive me if I got any of the information or facts wrong.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own Infinite Stratos**

* * *

July 7; IS Academy (Seaside); around 8:30 p.m.

"HOUKI! WE GOTTA RUN!"

Ichika's childhood friend Houki let out a small scream as he scooped her up in a princess carry. No time for complaints. They had to run. Ichika dodged to the left as Rin, Ichika's second childhood friend, fired out a shot from one of her dragon cannons. [Shenlong's] dragon cannons fired more of the compressed air. Thankfully, Rin wasn't moving, being made for close quarters combat, the dragon cannons, her only ranged combat weapons would soon be ineffective.

He shouldn't have been so naïve to think they were gonna make it. He had completely forgotten Cecilia and her bits. The bits were four optical drones made to fire lasers. And all four of them were right in front of him and Houki.

"Gah!" Ichika let out a small scream of frustration as he slid at the nick of time, the lasers missing Houki's breasts by inches. Before he could do anything, Houki stood up, and began to materialize Akatsubaki.

"Houki don't!" He quickly attempts to prevent her from doing so.

"But they started it!"

"Leave that to Chifuyu-nee, you know how she's like when people break the rules. They're too angry; they probably wouldn't listen to me. Meanwhile, I want to end this with the least number of deaths."

At the mention Ichika's demonic sister/teacher, Houki shuddered in fear and stopped materializing Akatsubaki.

Unfortunately, the four poor unfortunate souls; Cecilia, Rin, Laura and Charlotte, couldn't hear his warning and aimed their weapons at the two.

The two ran towards the nearest cover they could find, which was quickly destroyed by Laura and her [Schwarzer Regen] Ichika and Houki frantically ran around, hiding behind multiple rocks and all sorts of cover.

They four shooting them blinded and deafened by gunfire, were becoming very annoyed.

"STAY STILL ICHIKA!"-Rin

"TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!"-Charlotte

"BE AN OBEDIENT WIFE AND STAND STILL!"-Laura

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"-Cecilia, who has apparently gone mad.

They didn't notice that due to all the lights and sounds of gunfire, Houki and Ichika escaped farther into the beaches… and they probably woke up Chifuyu Orimura, not even God may save them now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Houki and Ichika ran as far away as they could, while miraculously being completely unspotted.

"That little trick we pulled should keep them there for a while." Houki said, panting heavily

"Yeah... I just hope Chifuyu-nee is feeling merciful today"

"They attack _us_ and you worry about _them_!?" Houki replied, enraged and surprised.

"Of course… after all, they're still our friends."

Houki's face fell.

"Don't be down Houki." Her companion reassures her and smiles.

Houki stared at Ichika's smiling face, and instantaneously blushed.

"Houki, your face is red. Do you have a fever or something?"

Houki sighed.

"What?"

"If only you knew how dense you are…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing…"

Houki's face turned serious.

"Let's hurry up to the dorms before Miss Orimura finds us."

Ichika noticed that in their running, they had gotten farther away from the Seaside Academy; hopefully the gunfire and noise the Representative Candidates were making would by them sometime.

They began running around where the four unfortunate souls would be to avoid getting caught. They had run about fifty meters when…

BOOOOOOOOM!

Something crashes a few meters in front of them.

Houki and Ichika let out short screams as they're blown away by the force of the impact.

Thankfully, on Houki's side, she lands on top of Ichika, softening her fall.

"Ugh… Houki… are you…alright?"

"I'm fine… thanks to you."

Ichika notice this strange elastic feeling on his chest, it feels smooth and soft…

'_Wait a sec… that couldn't be what I think it is, could it?_' Ichika thought.

He looks downwards, well, in our case sideward, and gets a good view of Houki's cleavage.

The boy blushes; Houki seems to have noticed; she follows his eyes, immediately becomes beet red and gives Ichika a huge slap to the face.

"PERVERT!"

Before he could defend himself from Houki's accusation, the sound of gunfire interrupts them.

The two first think that it would be their friends, ready to shoot them down; but as they turned to the origin of the sound, they found themselves wrong. It was something that was between better and worse.

It was better; whatever fired the shot wasn't aiming at them, heck it wasn't even noticing them. But like I said, it was also worse; it was rogue I.S.

The I.S. was slender and covered the entire body, the armor was also very slim making it quite hard to hit, however a single hit would probably damage it heavily, if it didn't have an energy shield, the pilot would have been dead by now, to add more speed and agility, there were four thrusters at her back, making her even faster. It had red paint all over its body, and had multiple blades; one for each off the pilot's elbows, one for each of the pilot's knees, and probably had more blades hidden or yet to be materialized.

The pilot of the I.S. couldn't be seen; the armor covering however, suggested that she was slightly shorter than the average height of a human being and slim. A metal ninja-like helmet covered her head; the only things see able were her violet eyes, playful and energetic. The bitch's eyes looked mad. As in, crazy mad.

The pilot dodged to the right, avoiding the enemy gunfire, her thrusters proved to be far stronger and agile than their tiny appearances revealed, allowing the I.S. to go to speeds that would rival even Houki's [Akatsubaki]. But then the I.S. did something nobody expected-

** -as if it was a ghost, it completely disappeared.**

"W-Where'd it go?" Houki asked, quite surprised.

As if frustrated, the enemy I.S. pilot, who they couldn't see began firing everywhere within the vicinity.

"SHIT! Houki, we gotta run!" Ichika said in surprise and fear.

"Wasn't that already OBVIOUS!?"

And so they ran, for their lives, for whatever they wanted in life they ran in pure terror.

The pilot was nowhere to be seen, she could probably be dead for all they know. Could be. Probably is.

After minutes of running and dodging, the gunfire suddenly stopped.

The two were thinking '_Is it over?' _

Well Hell no. Shit wasn't done yet. In fact, shit had yet to go serious. As if some brutal higher power decided "Well fuck this. More explosions please." _another I.S. decided to crash down on them._

The next I.S. was probably bigger; more heavily armed, and probably defied the I.S.' passive inertia control or whatever it's called, or something like that. Because the following sudden explosion after it crashed was **_huge._**

The two flew ten meters back _more_ than about twice the first crash's explosion.

The I.S. that was coming out of the smoke was huge, if you turn off the gravity control thing, PIC or whatever it's called, not even a fully grown, healthy and fit adult man wouldn't have half of the strength required to carry the I.S. of the ground. It was painted silver, as if one was staring at the moon; the armor was made of tough titanium plating. At the 'skirt' there were two miniguns, which were most likely used to fire at them, hovering over the shoulders, were rail guns, probably powerful enough to pierce _two_ tanks in a single shot, and as if it was blessed by a fucking war-god, there were two huge weapons at the back that seemed to be double-bladed battle axes.

The pilot was armored up to the torso, but for some reason, probably because it was already so heavily armored, or perhaps because it already had an energy shield, the head wasn't covered, revealing the pilot's face.

Who completely didn't match how huge her I.S. was.

She was thirteen. _Thirteen_. At least, she looked that way. She had violet eyes, silver hair which was probably dyed. Her skin was smooth and white; basically she looked like the most innocent being in the planet. She had this strange, mature aura, although she looked thirteen; it made her seem responsible, not the leader kind 'responsible', rather more of a big sister kind 'responsible'.

…Dear gods of war, death and absolute bloody destruction, why bless a-a _child_ of all things with this… this… this **unstoppable arc of pure awe-inspiring destruction!?**

The girl's calm face did not match the look of surprise in her eyes when she saw Ichika and Houki, and her face slightly reddened.

"I'm sorry for intruding this young couple." She said in a calm mature voice which did not match her childish features.

The two were confused about what she meant until they noticed the position they were in. Houki was on top of Ichika, holding on to him as if her life depended on it, combine that with the fact that they were in nothing but _swimwear_, the fact that Ichika's right hand was squeezing Houki's butt while his left hand was squeezing one of Houki's breasts, then they looked like a couple ready to 'entertain' themselves.

Ichika turned red enough to make tomatoes jealous, while Houki broke away from Ichika and gave him a kick to his family jewels. Ichika rolled on the floor in pain while Houki kept screaming "HENTAI!" at Ichika while her face kept getting redder and redder, out of anger or embarrassment, probably both.

The young thirteen year old was confused about why Ichika's 'girlfriend' was torturing him.

Meanwhile, the invisible I.S., seeing her distracted opponent, suddenly materialized behind her and materialized a katana. She slashed diagonally, aiming for her opponent's head. However, her opponent had noticed the small thin shadow of her hand and blade, an impressive feat, seeing that the moonlight was fading and that her opponent's blade was quite thin.

The thirteen year old dodged, barely escaping death, and turned to face the opposing red I.S. The red one suddenly noticed Houki and Ichika, who simply stood still and stared at the two combatants; somehow, miraculously, they had caught enough of Ichika's attention to make him forget about his unbearable pain.

The red one motioned towards the two observers and the two combatants looked each other in the eye, and for a moment there was absolute silence. Everything was still; the look in the red one's eyes was similar to a child getting caught watching porn by his parents, aunts and uncles, _at the same time_; while the white one's was also similar, but slightly calmer.

The two had a silent conversation neither Ichika nor Houki could understand. The red and white I.S. backed away…

…before the red one dashed forward with her thrusters, straight at the two, a katana in her right hand, materializing a second one on her left while she moved.

Her speed matched even [Akatsubaki's], the two were unable to react, and all they saw was a red blur before her twin blades were inches apart from their necks.

"S-so fast…" Houki said in surprise.

"S-such terrifying speed."

"Thanks! Jade takes pride in [Decem Laminis'] speed." A cheerful, childish voice said.

""Eh?"" Ichika and Houki were dumbfounded, the owner of the childish voice would most likely have been the thirteen year old, but they had already heard her voice, plus she was preoccupied at the moment, scanning around for anymore observers.

"Oh sorry, Jade-chan forgot to introduce herself." The two turned to the origin of the voice, the pilot of the red I.S.

The red I.S.' helmet dematerialized, revealing a fifteen year old girl with childlike features. Her violet eyes looked playful and mischievous, her long black hair, which reached her thighs, was tied up in a ponytail. There was a childish smile on her face which made her seem innocent and peaceful, had she not be wielding blades inches away from their necks, Ichika and Houki would've thought she would just be someone really childish.

"My name is Jade, pleased to meet you!" The girl said beaming.

The two were very sure she was insane now, she was introducing herself to the people she was about to kill as if they were fellow high school students, she (appears to have) formed an alliance with the person she was fighting a moment ago, **and** she was smiling all throughout. She was either sadistic or insane… probably both.

"Uh… sure Jade, by the way… who's [Decem Laminis]?" Ichika asks.

"[Decem Laminis] is my I.S. of course!"

"By the way, what were you doing here?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you that!?" Houki retorted.

"You interrupted Jade-chan's fight!"

"You're trespassing I.S. Academy territory!"

"Ha! You're lying! Jade knows I.S. Academy is miles away from here."

"I.S. Academy temporarily switched to the seaside!"

"Can you two please calm down? Maybe we could talk this out." Ichika's sweat dropped as he tried in vain to calm the two raging girls, who had completely forgotten their existence.

"Well since you saw us anyway… I really have to kill you two." Jade announced.

"Wait… WHAT!?" before any of the two could react, the girl, Jade, moved her katana closer to their necks.

"Sorry about this, but I have to keep [Decem Laminis]."

Before she could land the killing blows, Jade saw a shadow… no, two… wait four, four large shadows moving closer, she heard a familiar sound, the sound of gunfire, and stepped back just in time to see a laser beam aimed at her head to miss.

"What do you think you're doing to Ichika-san?" Cecilia said as she lowered her sniper, Blue Pierce.

"Ichika, are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you injured? Did she cut you anywhere? Did…" Charlotte bombarded the boy with questions about his health.

"Houki, you okay?" Rin asked calmly, but worriedly.

Laura's reaction was better than the others… her face was filled with absolute deadly rage, and was glaring at Jade, the glare was so terrifying, anybody would run away, but Jade just smiled mischievously.

"WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING TO THINE WIFE!?"

"Eh?" Jade was surprised by the number of girls Ichika had around him.

'_Ichika…Ichika, where have I heard that name before?_' she thought.

Then it hit her. She remembered the TV broadcasting about the world's first male I.S. pilot; the boy right in front of her, the infamous Orimura Ichika.

"Wait a sec! _You're_ Orimura Ichika!? The I.S. Academy's harem king!?"

…Such was his reputation. Being the only male I.S. pilot in the world, the younger brother of the Brunhilde _and being the only boy in the entire I.S._ Academy, Orimura Ichika is probably the most famed human being in the world… and being infamously known as the I.S. Academy's only male student, there are rumors of him being 'attended' every night by multiple of his schoolmates.

Ichika, the said victim, was naturally quite offended. The boy was literally Spartan-trained by his demonic sister and teacher to be what some people would call 'the perfect gentleman'.

"Again, for the nth time, I DO NOT HAVE A HAREM! I AM A COMPLETE AND INNOCENT VIRGIN, AND I HAVE NEVER HAVE BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE 'ATTENDED' EVERY-NIGHT!… Sorry if that was kinda loud, just have too many of my old friends asking about that stuff. " Ichika shouted out the first half, but spoke out the other half in an apologetic tone.

Jade ignored the boy, concluding that he lied and asked the newly arrived IS-clad teenagers "How were able to pass Mindy-chan?"

The girls and Ichika were confused.

"Who's Mindy?" Charlotte asked.

"You know, the thirteen year old girl keeping watch?"

"Don't know her."

"Long white hair, kinda short?"

"Are you talking about Laura over here?"

Jade became completely annoyed.

"THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE HUGE I.S. FLYING A FEW METERS ABOVE THE GROUND BEHIND YOU!?"

Charlotte was offended by her rude shouting.

"FOR THE LAST TI- wait, right behind us!?"

That was all she was able to say before the said thirteen year old girl shot out the rail gun she had readied during their argument.

Thankfully; either because the rail gun was inaccurate, the girl was new to firing it, or whatever higher power that decided to cause them this horrid luck finally decided to show them some mercy; the rail gun somehow missed them by a few meters.

The resulting explosion however, was entirely different story. Although their I.S.s kept the girls safe, Ichika and Houki had not deployed their I.S.s and flew a good few centimeters off the ground before the others caught them.

"That was a warning shot." The young thirteen year old said as she lowered her rail gun. "Leave here, don't you dare speak about this to anyone." The young girl's I.S. miraculously had thrusters strong enough to lift it off the ground

"What!? But you can't let them leave!" Jade argued in outraged. "They'll tell everybody about our I.S. and- and then they'll take away [Decem Laminis]! And then-" she began spouting out all sorts of events leading to one another like a spoiled brat.

*sigh* "Sometimes, I feel like I'm the older one, you know onee-chan?"

She redirected her gaze at the other I.S. users.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Ichika was the one who replied.

"On the condition you tell us who made your I.S."

"No way! That's something we'd never tell anyone." Jade said in her ever childish tone.

"Why is that person so important to you that you wouldn't tell anyone about him?"

"That's personal!"

Mindy intervened "Enough of this, what is your answer?"

"Like Ichika said, if you don't tell us who made your I.S., then we won't keep silent about this." Everybody nodded at Houki's answer.

"Well then…" the girl's head lowered for a moment before looking at them again, her eyes suddenly filled with bloodlust "…WE'LL JUST HAVE TO KILL ALL OF YOU!"

Her sudden mood change surprised them enough to give Jade and Mindy time to aim their weapons and dash at them.

"Sorry, their under _my_ protection." A new voice surprised the two opposing groups.

Jade was the only unfazed as she swung her katana, which was parried by another katana.

The young girl flew back as the area where she just stood a moment ago was slashed at by the said huge katana.

"How are you able to match [Decem Laminis'] speed?"

Ichika smiled, "What do you expect from the Brunhilde?"

The girl who parried Jade's katana was woman somewhere around the age of twenty-four, her hair was long, black and tied into a ponytail, and she looked somewhat similar to Ichika right behind her. She was wearing a white nightgown, having been woken up from sleep

Everybody knew her; she was Orimura Chifuyu, strongest woman in the world, the Brunhilde, champion of the first Mondo Grosso, the I.S. Academy's strictest demon teacher, and Ichika's older sister.

The two would have thought Ichika bluffing, but the facts told them to believe him; 1.) She was wielding a katana meant for an I.S., something no normal human could do, 2.) She had enough speed and reaction time to block Jade's swing, and 3.) Ichika was (once again) famously known as her younger brother.

…If I were to say she was angry, I would be lying.

She looked **absolutely ****_positively _****_indisputably _****_raving mad._**

If looks could kill, Jade would cease to exist in an instant.

The said to-be corpse backed away in pure fear and-… wait, was that excitement in her eyes!?

"Tell me…" she turned her head slightly, so she could see Mindy, "… what do you think you were doing on I.S. Academy grounds?" although her face was calm, her eyes made you think you were staring at death herself.

"Tha-That's none of your business." The young thirteen year old girl was somehow able to reply under her glare, although she looked scared, her eyes looked as excited as Jade's.

Without saying another word, the two flew off the ground, hoping to either get away or dash like madmen.

Before either had time to fly away, Mindy was suddenly hit on her shoulder by a laser shot, causing her to fly back down, barely able to land on her feet.

"Nice one Cecilia!" Ichika commented on her shot.

The young blonde British teenager blushed, "What do you expect from Cecilia Alcott, the UK's I.S. Representative Candidate?" she boasted.

At the mention of that name, Mindy and Jade widened their eyes.

"Ce…cil?" Jade whispered.

"Eh, what did you just call me?" Cecilia was somehow able to hear her whispers and asked.

"Cecil?" Mindy began whispering as well.

"Um… it's not 'Cecil', it's Cecilia. Ce-ci-li-ia."

"Cecil-chan, is that you?" Jade asked in wonder as she began walking towards her.

"Hey kid, back away." Chifuyu threatened, but the girl didn't listen. She just kept moving, forward, towards Cecilia.

The other girl, Mindy began walking towards her as well.

"Stay away from Cecilia!" Rin stepped in the way, but was quickly pushed away.

"Cecil…"

"I told you, the name's-" Cecilia became irritated but stopped mid sentence as she stared Jade in the eyes, her violet eyes were full of wonder and happiness, as if a child just found her long-lost favorite teddy bear.

'_Those eyes… where have I seen them before?_' Cecilia began thinking, searching her mind for a memory that would spark something…

Scenes began playing in her mind; a girl dyeing her hair black… three children holding out their hands towards her… a young boy crying… a young black haired girl scolding her two elder siblings… four children happily smiling around a blazing garbage can like delinquents planning their next big prank…

Cecilia's eyes widened in surprise.

"It can't be… Aria? Is that you?" Cecilia whispered.

'Jade' smiled "Jade-chan doesn't go by that name, Cecil-chan."

"Alcott, do you know this girl?" Chifuyu asked.

Before Cecilia could answer, the girl behind her, 'Mindy' replied.

"That's none of your concern."

Cecilia turned to face her next; she stared into her eyes and began thinking of the only other person that could know 'Jade' other than…

"Alicia!? What's with the hair dye?" she asked in surprise.

The young thirteen year old girl smiled, "You have no right to ask me that question Cecil, and after all, didn't you dye your hair back then?"

"Alcott, how do you know these people?" Laura asked.

"Were you childhood friends or something?" Charlotte asked as well.

"Something like that." Cecilia replied.

"As much as we want to hang out and talk about the old days, we really should be going right now." The thirteen year old said as she walked around Cecilia to get closer to 'Jade'.

"Don't tell anybody you saw us 'kay?" 'Jade' said as she walked closer to 'Mindy'.

The two were now shoulder to shoulder, and the others suddenly noticed how similar the two seemed, similar enough to look like sisters.

""Sayonara!""

Then, 'Jade' said something that caused Cecilia to put herself in complete depression.

"I'll tell onii-chan you gave him your regards!"

The thirteen year old materialized a flash grenade and flew it into the air, blinding everybody.

When the I.S. students and Chifuyu could see and hear again, 'Jade' and 'Mindy' were gone.

"Damn, they got away!" Rin said.

"Cecilia, you okay?" Ichika asked, worried.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Is everybody still here?" Houki asked.

""We're here!"" Laura and Charlotte said in unison.

"Good to know everybody's here…" a dark irritated and demonic voice spoke behind the six.

All six of them turned around and saw death herself, Chifuyu Orimura, crack her knuckles to prepare for the coming punishment.

"Now tell me… WHY ARE ALL OF YOU IDIOTS CAUSING SO MUCH NOISE THIS LATE AT NIGHT!?"

Their funerals will be beautiful ones, trust me. But those funerals were years away, currently they were wishing they would die right before the Brunhilde would begin punishing them.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So how was the first chapter? Was it good? Was it bad? Or was it horrible? Anyway thanks for reading.**

**To those who do not know:The next season of Infinite Stratos will be released in early October, according to most sources, but with the reformatting of the light novel, there will probably be many changes with it...**

**Also I'm still in school, and I'm not allowed to use my laptop during school days except Friday, so if you're interested in this story(IF you're interested), expect slow updates.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Chaos before the Storm

**Author's Note:**

**Alright, sorry if this took sometime, my exams contributed to a few problems, and of course, my laziness. **

**But anyway, here's the first chapter!**

**I must be honest, I went gay for five minutes when I saw that people actually liked this story, my self-loathing was lifted.**

**Anyway thanks to B123 for helping me out with finding the dates and stuff, although it was minor.**

**Plus, the second season of Infinite Stratos is up, yay!**

**Finally, enjoy reading.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos.**

* * *

Unknown Time; Somewhere along the Japanese Border

"Well, this is shit."

"Awwww! C'mon! Look at the bright side of things."

"What bright side of things, nee-chan? Ever since you got us caught a few months ago, the I.S. Academy's hounds have hunted us down all day and all night. Twelve hours a day, twelve hours at night, seven days a week, four fucked-up weeks of every fucking month."

"You too, Mindy-chan!? Am I the only positive thinking one around here? And didn't we teach you to not cuss words?"

"Apparently not Jade. We cuss all the fucking time."

"Well fuck you."

"Well sorry sis, but I don't plan on letting my sister fuck me."

"…"

"…"

"…I regret nothing. Those words were glorious."

*WHACK*

*WHACK*

"… Why don't we just leave the country? It proves safer and less time-consuming than spying I.S. Academy and sneaking into ships every five hours."

"You know why I can't do that Mindy."

"Do you really hate her that much?"

"It's not just her I'm chasing." 'Although she is more important'

"Oh, you mean the _other_ unique I.S. pilot? Your I.S. is still after it?"

"Judging by the nature of your I.S., it wouldn't be surprising for it to hunt down the 'ultimate prey'."

"True enough, true enough."

* * *

November 5, 2034; I.S. Academy Grounds

Ichika Orimura just woke up in his bed, due to some loud banging and screaming outside his door... he might as well have never woken up at all. Because:

1.) Laura's sleeping naked on his bed again;

2.) She was sleeping on top of him in a very... suggestive position;

3.) Remember the banging and screaming outside? Turns out it was Houki, Cecilia and Rin arguing on who gets to wake him up. They came crashing right into his bedroom mid-fight;

4.) And they were now glaring at Ichika, who had Laura peacefully sleeping on top of him.

A harem... every guy's dream. But not Ichika Orimura's. He doesn't want a harem. But he unknowingly has one...

It's gonna be the death of him.

"... What do you think you're doing with Laura?" Houki materialized her I.S.' right and blade, [Amatsuki].

"To think... after giving you the title of class representative..." Cecilia called out her sniper, [Blue Pierce].

"Ichika..." Rin raised her right fist which was now covered in the purple armor of [ShenLong].

Like I said, he should have never have woken up.

The incident that was happening would only be the first and least terrible of the many events that would take place that day.

* * *

Same Day, one or two hours later; Second Terrible Event

**Ichika's POV**

Oh dear God...

My head hurts like hell.

Why does Laura sneak into my bed every night?

And why does she have to sleep _naked_?

As I enter the classroom I asked myself that.

Houki and Cecilia were glaring at me from their seats.

"What?"

"As thick-headed as ever." Cecilia scoffed.

"What? After what happened this morning all you say is WHAT!?"

I feel an evil aura emanating from the two.

Dear God I am dead.

The two began shouting and waving their arms at me, naturally catching everybody's attention. This lasted for about five or so minutes.

Fortunately, and unfortunately the one and only person all the I.S. Academy students truly feared arrived in their classroom...

*WHACK*

*WHACK*

*WHACK*

...And gave us all a proper beating with her attendance book.

As the three covered their heads in pure unimaginable pain, Chifuyu-nee sighed.

"Why are all the idiots held in _my_ class?"

She turned to the other students "Unless anybody else wants to get whacked in the head, RETURN TO YOU DAMNED SEATS."

With all the authority expected of the Brunhilde, her terrifying glare, and of course, her trusted student handbook she pacified the students in a mere matter of seconds.

As if my head wasn't hurt enough...

Char looked worried from a few chairs away.

"Ichika? You ok?"

Yeah… I think I'm fine…

The words won't leave my mouth though…

I can't see very well…

Why's everything starting to go black? …

Why won't the pain in my head go away? ...

I feel kinda dizzy…

The last thing I heard before fainting was everybody's collective gasps.

* * *

_The first thing I noticed was the sound of the crashing waves._

_Strange… how'd I get to the seashore?_

_Oh well, time to get some peace and quiet for a while._

_"…Ichika."_

_…_

_"Ichika."_

_… _

_"Ichika!"_

_All right, that's it._

_I opened my eyes and sat up, not even trying to hide my annoyance. I noticed that it was night time, and I was right, I'm on the seashore._

_"Can't you let me have some peace and quiet for once, please!? Do you know how tiring it is to be whacked…in the head…24/…7?"_

_I slowed down the last part, as I noticed that the person right in front of me was Chifuyu-nee._

_Dear God, no, please, spare my already injured head._

_"About time you woke up."_

_Chifuyu-nee's _calm_!? How is that even possible!? You must be an imposter!_

_'Chifuyu-nee' then, scratched the back of her head._

_"Well, actually, yeah in a way, I kinda am an imposter."_

_My eyes widened in surprise._

_"Wait, how can you read my mind!?"_

_More importantly, why are you impersonating Chifuyu-nee!?_

_The fake Chifuyu-nee looked amused._

_"Well, I'm taking the form of your sister because it's the closest thing your mind thinks is a proper teacher; and the mind reading thing…"_

_She trailed off, suddenly lost in thought._

_"…I think it's best to show you why."_

_The girl stepped back and began glowing brightly, I covered my eyes to avoid being blinded, but for a moment, I saw something, something mechanical and white like…_

_ "[Byakushiki Setsura]!?"_

_The glowing stopped, and right in front of me was something that looked like Chifuyu-nee in white medieval armor, it even had a huge sword._

_Her lips were curved into something between a smile and a smirk._

_"Just [Byakushiki], [Setsura] is a different entity, too bad she's asleep, she really wanted to meet you. By the way, welcome to your dreams."_

_"I.S. can sleep?"_

_"You sound surprised, some of us only sleep in either standby or compact mode, while the more intelligent ones, the ones you call 'personal I.S., know to sleep more often, seeing as we would surely be frequently used."_

_I nodded, understanding that much._

_"Wait, this is a dream?"_

_Her amused smile grew._

_"Yup."_

_"So why are we on the seashore?"_

_"Not even I know; it was chosen by your brain, probably remembering an important event."_

_"You mean the Silver Gospel incident?"_

_"Perhaps, but maybe there was something else."_

_She looked at me expectantly, as if hoping I would recall something._

_It lasted for about ten seconds before she sighed._

_"You truly are hopeless in your love life."_

_"Eh? What do you mean by that?"_

_"Nothing. Now before I tell you what I came here for, do you have any questions?"_

_"I have one. [Byakushiki], how are you able to do this? You know, entering my dreams."_

_I asked her that, getting up._

_"Interesting question, Ichika. I would answer that for you, but there are too many problems regarding that."_

_"Like what?"_

_"Let me demonstrate. Ichika, listen to me very carefully."_

_She then told me how personal I.S work and how they reach second shift._

_Honestly, I got lost after her first five sentences, something about the I.S. reaching a certain level of… what was that word? Adaptability? Yeah, something like that. When an I.S. adapts enough with the pilot to… become completely…in sync with the I.S. and stops working on adapting with the pilot and starts working on improving the pilot… something like that._

_[Byakushiki] must've read my mind, cause she turned to me and smiled._

_"I'm impressed you were able to get that much Ichika. Seems like you're not as dimwitted as I thought, still too dimwitted to understand how entering your dreams work, but still, an improvement."_

_"Was that supposed to be praise, or an insult?"_

_"Both. Now, any other questions?"_

_I shook my head._

_"I'll take that as a no. Ichika, do you remember the night after the Silver Gospel Incident?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Do you remember those children? The ones Alcott called 'Aria' and 'Alicia'? And their I.S.?"_

_I said yes to both of her questions._

_"Let me tell you something, Ichika. I am one of the oldest I.S. around, one of Tabane Shinonono's oldest children; I have a complete list of all I.S. cores in the world and I can identify any of them with but a single look. But those two I.S. …"_

_[Byakushiki] looked me in the eyes, a dark look in her face._

**_Neither of their I.S. cores are listed among the four hundred and sixty-seven I.S. cores made by Tabane Shinonono._**

* * *

Same time; Somewhere along the Japanese Border (again)

_'The cargo ship heading back to Japan would take too long'_ Jade remembered her little sister's complaint about taking a cargo ship instead of an airplane.

She should have listened. After sneaking into a ship to China, Jade and her companions, chose a ship to return to China, and for some reason, their last companion chose a specific cargo ship to sneak into.

The ride took eternities to the two.

Jade and Mindy, who felt as more bored than restless children trying to go to sleep, asked if they could go on to the deck. She and her sister disguised themselves as guards, after 'taking them out', and were taking a snack in the cafeteria. Most wouldn't be fooled, seeing how young they were, but not a single person would dare say anything, they appeared to be armed with guns.

From what they could see anyway.

It was surprising to them really, they thought cargo ships didn't have cafeterias. Then again, the cargo ship is owned by a world-famous business.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

...

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

…

"Are we-"

"Enough!"

Mindy had finally broken after the nth time, stood up and slammed the table with such force that it not only startled the surrounding workmen (and basically everyone in the ship), but also caused a Richter scale kilometers away to misread it as a 6.8 magnitude earthquake.

You wish I was kidding about that.

"We're on the FUCKING DECK of a FUCKING CARGO SHIP, go outside and check if we're there FOR. YOUR. FUCKING. SELF."

For a moment, there was pure silence. Before...

"Nah. Jade-chan's too lazy to do that."

That single calm reply was all that was needed for the surrounding crewmen. The immaturity in her voice had left them to believe neither had the guts to shoot their weapons nor would they know how to use them. They had finally decided to stop playing around.

One of them, specifically the captain, stood up from his seat.

"Will you two stowaways just get off the boat already? You're disturbing the order of the ship." He spoke in broken Japanese.

The two acknowledged he existed, before turning away again.

"Seriously? It took you this long to act? Jade-chan is completely disappointed. Jade-chan was expecting more from a former Chinese navy captain." Jade said in perfect Chinese, surprising the captain.

"I too, am unimpressed. I was expecting more from a Chinese man who received a medal of honor, seeing as it's something the only U.S. military gives." Mindy tilted her head. "Then again, you were only given that honor because you were one of those who fought the White Knight and lived to tell the tale. But everybody who fought that unit lived, didn't they? Wouldn't that mean you received a medal which you did not deserve at all?" she smirked arrogantly.

The thirteen year old's statement enraged the captain and his men, who most, coincidentally, were originally part of the same army.

"I don't know who you are, but you can't insult the captain like that!" one of the crew shouted out as he picked up his wrench.

The surrounding men, inspired by his example, grabbed whatever they could use as a weapon and charged at the two.

"Oh how foolish these men are." Mindy sat on the table, speaking in a neutral tone.

"Can Jade-chan kill them? Can she? Can she!?" her elder sister's eyes were shining with madness and blood lust.

The younger sister thought for moment...

"You get the ones on the left, I get the ones on the right."

She stood up and dusted off the dirt on her pants.

Jade stood up as well and stared at the ones on her side.

"Let's have fun, shall we?"

"No playing sis, let's make it quick."

"Awww, you're no fun."

The two faintly glowed with light.

"Deploy!"

That sound came from neither Mindy nor Jade, who both stopped glowing and widened their eyes in surprise..

Before Mindy and Jade could react, before the crew could land a blow, a wave of dark violet energy cut right through a significant portion of the crew.

"Jade! Mindy! You fucking idiots, didn't I tell you not to show yourselves!?"

The voice originated from a figure which walked into the room. More specifically, an I.S.

As soon as every survivor turned to the voice's origin, all except Mindy and Jade froze in fear.

The I.S. pilot was completely covered in pure black armor from everything except for a few areas on the upper parts of the arms, the area behind the elbow, its upper thighs and behind the knees, for more movement.

The torso was covered in armor, lithe and slender, with a dark violet core right in the middle, which seemed to 'extend' through rune-like lines all over the I.S. glowing in a way that made it look like a beam of energy would fire out anytime.

The I.S.' left arm was a larger-than-normal gauntlet, each of the finger's shaped like an eagle's talon, sharp enough to kill anyone in the room.

The right hand was normal, but it held a huge black sword, similar to a scimitar, but not as thin, it had strange lines, similar to runes, that glowed with violet energy which was slowly fading.

Behind the I.S. was a pair of wings, dark violet beautiful wings made of energy. The energy wings began at the pilot's back, which were connected to the dark violet energy 'runes' which were all over the I.S.' body.

A helmet covered the pilot's head, but it allowed the pilot's sharp violet eyes to be seen and long black hair to flow, miraculously avoiding the energy wings. The design of the helmet was simple, it was but a simple mask, similar to the one owned by Vega from Street Fighter, with the same violet energy runes the rest of the I.S. had, but the pilot's eyes, filled with a strange anger, made everyone other than Jade and Mindy to freeze in fear.

"What's wrong? Can't we have our fun?" Jade pouted as she made a puppy dog face.

*sigh* "Mindy, can you succeed where your dear elder sister failed and give me a proper explanation?" the pilot said as it looked at Mindy.

"The crew threatened to throw us overboard, and unfortunately, we nearly had to resort to violence, had you not arrived." Mindy replied in a military manner.

"S-So you're the one leading this band of stowaways, am I correct?" The captain said as he recovered from his surprise."

"In a way, yes." The I.S. said that as it turned to the captain.

"If you think that I.S. is gonna intimidate us, then you are-" the captain began to speak, but he was abruptly interrupted by the I.S. pilot.

"'very mistaken'? I think not, I know what you carry in this ship, captain."

The captain smirked arrogantly.

"Ha! Very funny kid."

"You don't believe me do you? Then let me be a little clearer." The pilot face was right in front of the captain's.

"**I know you carry in here the top-secret I.S hunter units**."

The captain's eyes widened in shock.

"I.S. hunter units!? I thought they were only rumors!?" Mindy asked in surprise.

"Well, my dear little sister, did you really think the U.N. would allow such a dangerous weapon to continue without some emergency countermeasure?" the I.S.' head tilted so it could see Mindy "That would be quite foolish, wouldn't it?"

"Good point." she finally answered after pondering over it for some time.

"How do you know about the I.S. hunter units? The U.N. told us that only the presidents of each country, the makers of the I.S. hunters, and us knew about their existence." the eyes were now all focused on the captain once more.

"Let's just say that it was from a very helpful source." Jade answered with a playful smile.

"Yes, let's just leave it at that." The I.S. pilot voiced his agreement.

"Wait, so I was the only one uninformed? No fair!" Mindy puffed her cheeks.

"Not like it matters anymore anyway," the captain smirked "cause I got-"

"-This remote control?" Once more, the I.S. pilot interrupted as he raised his left hand, which was somehow able to not crush the thin device it was holding.

The captain's mouth was wide open.

"H-h-ho-how did you-?

"You were all so distracted, I just couldn't resist." somehow they knew, that behind that mask, he was smiling at the crew, mocking them, daring them to come and get the device.

And the crew did, come after him. Well, nearly all of them.

"Wait! Stop! Don't be provoked!" the captain's desperate cries could not be heard within the roaring crew.

The I.S. pilot thought of a thousand ways to kill them all. But one stood out the most; probably because it has something to do with a hell lot of gunfire.

"Sis?"

"Yeah?"

"Not you Jade."

"Yes, what is it?"

...

"You're actually gonna let those stupid fools over there, with no dakka at all, hit you?"

*SNAP*

Something had gone off in Mindy's head. The sounds of the mental chains that held her inner self snapped, and that snap could be heard all over the deck, and two changes could be easily noticed about her.

The first most noticeable change in hear were her eyes. They were suddenly filled with blood lust, gone was her calm mind, and now there was only rage. The second change was...

"Wut wuz dat?"

... her accent, and her voice. Her bloody MOTHERFUCKING ACCENT and her BLOODY MOTHERFUCKING VOICE. Have you ever played Dawn of War? If yes, do you remember the Orks? Do you remember their accent, how they sounded like? If you do, just make it female and a little less gruff, and you know how she sounds like here.

"So lemme' geddis shit stroight, dey haz nuffin' choppy, no dakka, not even a klub, an' da 'umies still fink dey kan krump uz wid no proppa weapons?"**(Forgive me; I have not completely mastered the Orkish language)**

"Yup!" Jade smiled innocently, but her eyes showed how mischievous and excited she was.

"Well den…" Mindy deployed her I.S., [Weapon Master].

"LEMME' SHOW DEM GITS A THING O' TWO ABOUT DAKKA!"

Every weapon the young girl had, other than the axes on her back, was deployed.

And that was a hell lot of guns. Shotguns, missile launchers, grenade launchers, snipers, pretty much every weapon there could possibly be was hovering around her, aimed at the stampeding masses.

That sight was enough. The entire crew turned a complete 360 degrees and started stampeding the other way. Trampling on each other, pushing each other.

Anything to get away from the child and her guns.

"NUMBAH WUN: IF IT SHUTES, IT HAZ DAKKA!"

She had fired out every weapon, killing multiple of the crew in an instant, and heavily damaging the ship.

"NUMBAH TWO: IF IT HAZ DAKKA, SHUTE IT, YA GITS!"

Pretty much the entire crew other than the captain was dead, the captain however, hid behind the canteen, hoping to at least miraculously get out alive.

Impossible, he was dead the moment the I.S. pilot snapped Mindy's mental chain.

"NUMBAH THREE: OUTTA AMMO? CHOP DEIR 'EADZ OFF! O' BETTA YET, **GET MOAR DAKKA!**"

The captain's body was riddled with bullets. Blood and oil was being spilled all over the place.

The ship was slowly being set aflame.

"NUMBAH FOUR: DER IZ NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH DAKKA!"

The captain looked around him.

Everywhere he looked there were dead bodies.

Everywhere he looked was set aflame.

Everywhere he looked, there were bullets.

Everywhere he looked...

**There was a hell lotta dakka.**

The last words the captain heard before he died were:

"AN' FINALLY, MOST IMPORTANTLY, NUMBAH FIVE: **YA GITS WILL NEVAH HAZ ENUFF DAKKA! YA NEED MOAR OF IT! ****_MOAR OF IT! MOAR DAKKA! WAAAGH!_**"

* * *

"Holy shit, Jade-chan haven't seen this much gunfire since Mindy-chan last switched personalities!"

Jade and her older sibling miraculously survived, holding on a piece of drift wood.

"Why'd you turn off your I.S. anyway?" Jade questioned her companion

"I was using up too much energy. Besides, I got what I wanted." the older sibling raised the device he took, the remote to the anti I.S. units.

"I can't believe they actually made anti-I.S. weaponry."

"Neither do I, must have costed them billions. Too bad though, according to the informant, an entire squad has to be assembled in order to take down an I.S."

"Wouldn't that make them not really 'anti-I.S.'?" Jade's face fell as she lost her hopes of battling such a strong weapon.

"One alone cannot stand the I.S' might; but when you gather a correct squad combo of at least five units, there would be at least tenless I.S. in this world."

"Ooohh... Can I try?" she attempted to reach the remote.

"No."

"C'mon, lemme' have some fun." she tried using the puppy eyes to convince her elder sibling.

"No matter how hard you try, I can't. I already fucking launched them while Mindy had her fun blowing up the ship."

"Really!? To where!?"

The older sibling smirked, his eyes carrying a sadistic light.

"Let's just say a certain male and his harem is about to feel a hell lot of pain; now, help me find Mindy before she goes ahead and kills herself."

* * *

******So how was the first chapter? Was it good? Was it bad? Or was it horrible? **

******Once again, all criticisms are allowed, just go a bit easy on me.**

**And finally, thanks for reading the first chapter.**


End file.
